Thursday, February 27, 2014

Nepal-bound cargo starts moving from Kolkata port

The
Nepal-bound containers stuck at Kolkata port in India have started moving since
Tuesday, according to Nepal’s Consulate General in India.

The containers
were stuck at Kolkata port in India due to the construction work of the broad-gauge
railway yard on the Raxaul-Muzaffarpur section.

Around 700
Nepal-bound containers were stuck at the Indian port for a week forcing Nepali
importers to pay high detention and demurrage charges.

Nepal’s
Consul General in Kolkata Chandra Kumar Ghimire confirmed over phone that the
authorities in India had permitted the movement of Nepal-bound containers from
Kolkata port after the completion of construction project on February 25.

Initially,
the Indian authorities planned to allow shipment of three consignments a week
to Nepal but after talks with Railway Ministry, they permitted shipments of two
consignments per day. Based on the current arrangement, all the containers will
leave Kolkata port within the next four days.

Nepali side
also coordinated with Eastern Central Railway – the Patna-based unit of Indian
Railways – to give priority to the Nepali containers.

Unlike earlier,
when Nepali the containers used to wait for only a day or two during the renovation work, this
time took about a week due to the construction of a broad-gauge line along with
the alternative roadways.

Due to new infrastructure,
however, the transportation time between Kolkata port and Nepal border will
come down to three days.